Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

By Sisir Basu

The much hyped capital account convertibility (CAC) report has been dealt its first blow. The left is planning to step up pressure on the Manmohan Singh Government against allowing full CAC, which it says it going to lead to "currency crisis and inflation." A convertible rupee would mean you would not have to go the jeweller to buy a few gold bangles or ...more

Is Bangladesh
‘headache’ for India?

By J N Raina

It is time for action. Our country needs men of integrity and agility at the helm of affairs. When our enemy is acerbic, gasping for our blood and longing for "inflicting a thousand cuts" on India, we should act gingerly and conduct ‘business’ with our immediate petulant neighbours in a pragmatic. .......more

Preventing the child malnutrition in India

By Prof (Dr) R.D. Gupta & Dr. Naveen Mahajan

A joint study carried out by the United Nation World Fund Programme and Dr M S Swaminathan Research Foundation during 2002, indicates that child malnutrition is very high in India. It is more so in urban areas with 36 per cent of urban children afflicted with stunted growth and ......more

EDITORIAL

Vande Mataram

"Vande Mataram, sujalam, suphalam, malayajasshitatalam, sasyashyamalaam, mataram, shubhrajyotsana pulakitayaminim, phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim, suhasininm sumadhura bhasininm, sukhadam, vardam, Mataram!" ("I bow to thee, Mother, richly-watered, richly-fruited, cool with the winds of the south, dark with the crops of the harvests, the Mother! Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight, her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom, sweet of laughter, sweet of speech, the Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss!"). Let's sing this song today on the completion of the centenary of its adoption as national song to our hearts' content. Let's keep it singing for ever. This is not an ordinary hymn. It is the national song comparable only with "Jana Gana Mana..." It is as eternal as the spirit of a secular India . Aurobindo translated it in English (it is his rendering that we have cited in the beginning as conversion for the original). Mahatma Gandhi had described Vande Mataram in the following glowing terms: "It is enthroned in the hearts of millions. It stirs to its depth the patriotism of millions in and outside Bengal . Its chosen stanzas are Bengal 's gift among many others to the whole nation." Jawaharlal Nehru had recalled a year after Independence : "Vande Mataram is obviously and indisputably the premier national song of India with a great historical tradition: it was intimately connected with our struggle for freedom. That position, it is bound to retain and no other song can displace it. It represents the passion and poignancy of that struggle." On why it could not be national anthem Nehru had clarified: "In regard to the national anthem tune, it was felt that the tune was more important than the words. It seemed, therefore, that while Vande Mataram should continue to be the national song par excellence in India , the national anthem tune should be that of Jana Gana Mana." Presiding over the Constituent Assembly Dr Rajendra Prasad had elaborated the same important point in 1950: "The composition consisting of words and music known as Jana Gana Mana is the national anthem of India . The song Vande Mataram, which has played a historic part in the struggle for Indian freedom, shall be honoured equally with Jana Gana Mana and shall have equal status with it". Two words Vande Mataram had become battle cry for freedom-fighters before Independence . These are used even today to lift the spirits of the people at large. Aurobindo had analysed that poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee had while writing the song perceived three elements which constituted the moral strength so necessary for serving the motherland. They were firstly tyaga or complete self-sacrifice, secondly self-discipline and organisation and thirdly patriotism itself as religion. Chatterjee had composed the song more than a hundred years ago. According to official chronology though it first appeared in the first installment of serialisation of Chatterjee's novel "Anand Math" in a magazine titled "Bang darshan" in 1881 there is "clear evidence that it was composed independently earlier in 1875. In fact, Aurobindo had written in the English daily, "Bande Mataram" on April 16, 1907: "It is 32 years ago that Bankim wrote this great song." In "Anand Math" Chatterjee wrote about sanyasis who left their homes and hearts and dedicated their lives to the cause of their motherland. The motherland was personified as the Mother Goddess and worshipped as such.

History has recorded that the song had transcended regional, linguistic and even religious boundaries. In Punjab adjoining our State but far away from Bengal Lala Lajpat Rai had named his inspiring newspaper during freedom movement as "Vande Mataram" The song represented the nationalism at its best. Great exponent of India classical music Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar played an important role in making it popular during independence struggle. He recited it in the public beginning with Lahore and gradually covering the rest of the country. Rabindranath Tagore himself sung Vande Mataram in the 1896 session of the Indian National Conference. After the involvement of the Nobel laureate a commentator was thrilled with excitement: "Bankim Chandra composed the song in an inspired moment. Rabindranath sang it by setting a tune to it and it was left to the genius of Aurobindo to interpret the deeper meaning of the song out of which India received the philosophy of new Nationalism." Aurobindo added to Bankim Chandra's lustre with his touch: "Terrible with the clamorous shout of seventy-million throats and the sharpness of swords raised in twice seventy-million hands who sayeth to thee, Mother, that thou art weak? Holder of multitudinous strength, I bow to her who saves to her who drives from her the armies of her foemen, the Mother." Vande Mataram was on the lips of everyone in protest against the British's move to divide Bengal in 1905. In the background of the popular stir coupled with Swadeshi agitation, the Congress adopted Vande Mataram as the national song at its Varanasi session on September 7, 1905. Aurobindo who was injured in police cane-charge while reciting Vande Mataram has mentioned about that era in one of his books: "Vande Mataram was an _expression of nationalism. It quickly spread throughout India and was on the lips of millions." The Cambridge History of India has noted the song as "the greatest and most enduring gift of Swadeshi movement." It was in commemoration of the completion of the 100th anniversary of Vande Mataram since the Varanasi session that the Union Government has advised all educational institutions to organise singing of the national song at 11 a.m. today. There is a furore with self-professed leaders of the Muslim community raising objections. According to them the song is offensive to their religion that stands against idolatry. They forget that what are important in this instance are history and the larger sentiment.

It is good that these people were caught unawares when A.R. Rahman carried Vande Mataram to the generation next in his exclusive voice (this actually turned out to be second most popular Hindi song only recently). They don't even weigh another important consideration. Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru would not have applauded Vande Mataram had they found it distasteful for any section of society. So far these "religious" leaders are concerned we can only advise them to carefully listen to the Mahatma's favourite couplet: "Ishwar Allah tero naam sab ko sanmati de bhagwan" (Ishwar and Allah are two of the many names we know You by. O'God, give us the wisdom to understand that You are one." For our part we join the millions today who will be hailing Vande Mataram.

Rupee convertibility

By Sisir Basu

A second consequence would be that all Government paper/debt-instruments accumulated over decades on the asset-side of our (mostly nationalized) banking system would come to be evaluated at international prices. The financial position of India’s banks would be revalued in foreign exchange – not by our pink business newspaper journalists but by shrewd traders in world financial markets in Hong Kong, London and New York. If banks are revalued at world prices, so would financial positions of their debtors and creditors – the former include all Indian industry, the latter all of us who have bank accounts.

Last April, the Prime Minister reopened the subject of the full convertibility of the rupee and announced the Tarapore committee to present a plan of action. Is it a part of any ‘deal’ with the United States of America or a belated recollection to tick it off on the old reforms agenda? Full convertibility often came up for public debate in 1990 to 1997. Invariably, it was challenged as being dangerous in the then macroeconomic position of the economy. Those who stood to financially benefit from full convertibility – like merchant-bankers, financial market operators, speculators and others – argued for it.

Analysts are agreed that the principal reasons for the unravelling of the ‘miracle’ economies of Southeast Asia in the second half of 1997 were the inherent weaknesses in their economic and financial systems. There was little regulation, lax supervision, little reporting of financial data that would allow outsiders to evaluate a business, poor management of risk, and continuous lending to politically well-connected firms, sometimes at the government’s direct behest. There was often little due diligence regarding the credit-worthiness of the borrower or the economic merit of a project for politically favoured enterprises.

India in 2006 has progressed well on all these issues. The Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Reserve Bank of India are stronger, faster and effective in their supervision and in imposing penalties although there continue to be hiccups. Thanks to Section 49 of the listing agreement with SEBI, at least listed companies are more transparent. Auditors are also imposing the discipline of fuller and more honest reporting on all companies. Risk has now to be systematically analyzed and reported. Crony lending especially under government direction is less than it used to be.

After 1997, convertibility has not been on top of the list of "things to do" for foreigners and Indians as essential reform measures for India. The other old chestnut, labour reforms, is more heard of. It is recognized that the principal measures required are reduction in fiscal deficits, uniform sales taxation over the country as in VAT, better infrastructure, less red-tape, less paper and less inspections by government inspectors, cutting the time involved in starting a new industry, opening retail trade to foreign investment, higher foreign investment limits in telecom, lower interest rates, and so on.

The fiscal deficit has come down at the central level by hardly 1 per cent over five years while the state deficits continue as they were. But if economic growth stumbles, there is no doubt that the deficit targets will be the first to be sacrificed. Deficits squeeze liquidity, could raise interest rates, deprive Governments of money for public investment, and must reach consistently lower levels before opening the economy to capital account convertibility.

Value-added tax was introduced last year but large and important states, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, are not with it. India is only a semi-common market. Infrastructure continues to be a problem. Railways show better revenues and might have funds for investment. Metro rail in large cities and an express freight corridor and approved ambitious plans. Public private partnerships, or PPP, have begun private ownership of railway rakes. Road construction has witnessed large investments in urban and rural roads and more is planned. Airport modernization and new airports are to come under PPP. But congestion at airports and in the skies will continue for many years. Port modernization has commenced and PPP in smaller ports has made great progress. Energy remains a huge bottleneck, with domestic crude and gas availability remaining static. Indian government-owned oil companies are losing huge sums since government is not letting them pass on the high prices of crude and gas to the consumer in finished product prices. Coal is a poor reformer under Government ownership. The infrastructure remains a bottleneck and full convertibility will make our companies vulnerable.

State Governments are losing huge sums in operating electricity systems, being unable to manage their electricity investments efficiently, effectively and commercially. Privatizing electricity distribution is the only option to proven inability of state governments to manage electricity. But even a ‘reformer’ Prime Minister has not publicly recognized that privatized electricity in Delhi has improved matters, and other states are unlikely to follow the Delhi example. Without improving distribution, electricity will not improve in availability and financially. Inefficiency and high cost for industry because of electricity will continue. A convertible rupee will expose the economy more strongly to external pressures and instabilities.

Why do we need convertibility at all? The unravelling of south-east Asian economies some years ago was attributed to their ties to the dollar and full convertibility. So was the case in Argentina. The lesson was that there should be a firm Central bank to manage exchange inflows. Not much is coming as direct investment because of difficulties in manufacturing and moving goods in India arising from poor infrastructure and red tape, and not from fears of denial of repatriation of funds. Indeed, as American interest-rates rise, we must fear that funds might flow out for better returns there. Full convertibility might cause outflow of Indian-owned funds and to a haemorrhage of outflows.

Is the $165.8 billion (and rising) reserves sufficient cushion for us not to fear such outflows? These reserves are not mainly of funds into fixed investment. Most of it is in NRI deposits and foreign institutional investors’ portfolio investments and increasingly into real estate. Our current account deficit is rising. Without a current account surplus and reserves composed of far less volatile funds, we should not even discuss full convertibility.

There is no merit in full rupee convertibility at any time. Instead, we need measures to make industries and agriculture more efficient, improve the quality and availability of power, better roads, faster and safer rail, better urban infrastructure, less red-tape and corruption, a reformed government that can deliver more and better health, education, sanitation, water supply, nutrition, social security, and so on. Rupee convertibility is for the good of merchant bankers and foreign-exchange dealers. (INAV)

Is Bangladesh ‘headache’ for India?

By J N Raina

Imbecility has its limits. Animosity in our neighbourhood is in no way on the wane. Ostensibly, the atmosphere is fraught with dangerous consequences. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 59th Independence Day, should have been aggressively forthright and taken time by the forelock to condemn overt and covert actions of not only Pakistan, but Bangladesh as well, where the menace of Muslim fundamentalism has taken wider dimensions, directed against India. Indulgence in polemics is of no use to deal with recalcitrant neighbours, who have vowed-one directly and the other indirectly-to punch and punish India by inflicting a ‘thousand cuts’ on our Motherland.

Manmohan Singh’s assertion that the ‘plotters’ (of inflicting cuts) would not succeed in their designs is just verbose, for during the past over two decades, we have been facing huge cuts. We are bleeding profusely, because of the low-intensity war being waged by Pakistan, in conjunction with Bangladesh, in whose birth pangs India played a pivotal role.

The ‘war’ tactics of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan are fast changing. The days of Kalashnikov rifles are gone. So far, over 1, 00,000 innocent people have been killed, mostly in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, in the wake of the proxy war. Now ISI has since penetrated deeper into India.

There are glaring examples of ineffectiveness on our part. There is too much of politicking in various spheres, where it is not needed. Interestingly, Manmohan Singh has focused his nation’s attention towards rapid progress achieved by Japan, China and smaller countries in South East Asia. But he has failed to mention that it is due to better governance, better leadership qualities and cohesion in their ranks that Japan and China have attained economic prosperity. In India, such qualities are lacking. India should take action rather than give sermons.

It is indecisiveness that has marred our well-defined prospective planning. In a country of one billion people, there is no dearth of superb technocrats, scientists and experts in different fields, who have earned laurels abroad. In India, it takes several decades to take firm decisions and clear well-meaning projects, which could ameliorate the lot of common people. Our leaders have gone crazy with the vote bank politics. Political parties are vying with each other in appeasing people of different communities, just for votes. Even criminals and Islamic hardliners are welcome to achieve their desired goal. What a contrast this is with the scene in Japan and China where politics is subordinate to national interest.

Our leaders hit the hay when infiltrators continue to pour in at an alarming rate from Bangladesh. Over 30 million Bangladeshis have found new and safe haven in India. They have mostly settled in Assam and adjacent states over the years, changing the demography of the North-East, West Bengal and Bihar. In a matter of years, they are bound to multiply. These issues apparently look small, but in the long run, will pose great danger to the fabric of our society. Some Bangladeshi nationals are involved in the recent Mumbai bomb blasts. When Shiv Sena supreme Bal Thackeray wanted Bangladeshi settlers in the western metropolis to be deported, pseudo-secularists slammed him. Mumbai policemen, who had accompanied the first batch deportees to Kolkata, were beaten up in West Bengal. Political wisdom is lacking in dealing with such national issues. India should emulate America and Israel and take lessons on how to defend national interest. If Israel’s response to the Hezbollah provocation can be treated as ‘disproportionate’, as described by some, what term can be used for Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India, which is part of that country’s continuing proxy war?

The rub is that Bangladesh, which was a democratic and a secular country at its birth, is going Pakistan way. The Jamat-e-Islami, which was banned by Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the founder of Bangladesh, is virtually in control of the government, led by Bangladesh National Party of Begum Khaleda Zia. The JI sided with Pakistan at the time of the liberation struggle of the nascent state. Islamic phobia is at the zenith in Bangladesh. Slogans like "We shall become Taliban, and we will become Afghanistan" are often echoed across the country. JI is an important limb of the four-party coalition government, led by BNP. The radicals want Bangladesh’s re-merge with Pakistan, which seems neigh impossible. Over 300 million people were killed at the hands of the Pak army in the liberation struggle. The Jamaat has to be marginalized.

Khaleda government has been adopting anti-India policies. The purpose is to harm India, especially in Assam, where efforts are on to create a Muslim-majority state, which can ultimately lead to its merger with Bangladesh. Pro-India Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina is being brutalized by the fundamentalists.

Bangladesh has become a headache for India. Every day, there are clashes on the long unmanned borders. There are huge security concerns. ULFA insurgents are sheltered in Dhaka. How long can India remain a passive spectator? It is time New Delhi musters the political will to tell the neighbour to check the anti- India campaign from its soil, in mutual interest and for mutual benefit. (Syndicate Features)

Preventing the child malnutrition in India

By Prof (Dr) R.D. Gupta & Dr. Naveen Mahajan

The study further evinces that none of the Indian states was free from child malnutrition problem. The highest percentage of children showing stunted growth was in Bihar State, while Madhya Pradesh had the largest percentage of severely underweight cases among children under 3 years of age.

Distinction between under-nourishment and malnutrition: Studies have revealed that food intake by the children with inadequate energy or calories is called undernourishment. This leads to starvation, disease or demise of the children. Even food meeting the daily requirement of calorie, but lacking of proteins, fats and vitamins and minerals creates a number of deficiency diseases which is referred to as "malnutrition". It is point to mention that not only our children are undernourished but about 50 percent of pregnant women are also affected with malnutrition. Due to nutritional deficiencies most of the women are afflicted with anemia.

Most of the malnutrition cases remain invisible. It may not be immediately evident as the parents could be just unaware of the problem. Actually as stated above, there is evidence to prove that it is not the lack of food but repeated infection that sometime becomes a major cause of malnutrition. It is, for infections burn up calories, drain essential nutrients through vomiting and/or diarrhoea and induce the mothers to stop feeding for duration of the illness.

Vitamins, minerals and micronutrients

The National Institute of Nutrition Hyderabad, has found that lack of 8 key Vitamins (Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Niacin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B12, Vitamine E, Vitamin D and Pyridoxine), Four minerals (Iron, Iodine, Zinc, Calcium) and folic acid, are either missing or in-adequate in apparently healthy school going children. A study of the diets of 1314 students from Delhi schools have been found deficient in basic nutrients. Fat intake was found to be higher than recommended 30 per cent for boys and girls. The iron intake was less than half of the recommended dose. The study estimated that about 98 percent of apparently school children could have inadequate intake and lower levels of many essential micronutrients like folic acid and 50 percent deficient in 8 necessary vitamins and 4 minerals. The schools going children in the country are, therefore, seriously undermining 5 key factors - biochemical status, growth and morbidity, mental function and bone quality of a growing child-necessary for optimum mental and physical growth.

Prevention: To avoid the malnutrition, the first and the foremost thing is to create awareness among the women about the ill effects of mal-nutrition and methods of its control.

i) The mothers of the children must be provided with the growth charts and their use be explained to them nicely. The weight of the children and their measurement be checked up regularly and the growth be plotted on the charts.

ii) Advice be given to the women to keep on breast feeding until the child is atleast one year's old.

iii) At the age of 4 or 5 months, start the child on different foods, most probably mashed vegetables.

iv) Children have small stomachs so feed them often even if it is a small amount.

v) Persist in feeding during times of illness, even if the child does not feel appetite.

vi) As malnutrition also causes blindness and physical disabilities among some children so the women also require to be award of the role of vegetables in the human diet, especially of carrot. Carrot is a rich source of carotene which is precursor of vitamin A, the deficiency of which is amenable to cause night blindness.

vii) A common woman should note for her knowledge that mixture of 60 g skimmed milk powder, 20 g flour, 15 g butter and 250 ml water contains about 250 k calories and 22 g protein. The amount of protein is approximately what a child of 4 — 6 years requires and he may require a calories content of 1500 calories a day.